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Post by detroitbasketball on Oct 2, 2004 17:06:16 GMT -5
Well, ESPN dropped the price to $20, with what has been the "better" basketball franchise over the past few years. They had customers waiting on pins and needles for the "#1 Basketball Game" to come out so they could fork over the value price and run home and play the so-called #1 basketball game. I decide to join this group of people. I have been playing ESPN every year since 2K2. I think, for $20, how can you go wrong?
Well, I soon found out. No improvements from franchise mode, or "The Association", as it is now called. Gameplay almost seems to have regressed. Players seem to skate around the court, Shaq shoots from outside, Kobe passes the ball WAY more than he should. 24/7 mode is nice, but everything just seems wrong. They TELL you your player's personality, which, when dealing with them, is pretty pointless. Worst of all, the CPU does not shoot three pointers. It also does not call time outs. Never. No matter what. Not the game I expected. Worth $20, but nothing more. If you can only get one of the basketball games this year, LIVE is the one to get.
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Post by Terps2k3 on Oct 2, 2004 17:57:08 GMT -5
thanks for the headsup, i was gonna pick this up, but now I'll rent Live first.
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Post by detroitbasketball on Oct 2, 2004 18:00:53 GMT -5
Yeah, I'd rent ESPN aswell, though. It's not a bad game by any stretch. It's just these annoying little bugs and glitches that drag the game down. Still a good game for 20 bucks, though, IMHO. But I'm not sure i would have paid anything more.  |
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Post by SlammySammy2121 on Oct 2, 2004 18:45:48 GMT -5
thanks, I almost picked it up the other day at EB, got Live instead
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nafsder2007
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Post by nafsder2007 on Oct 3, 2004 15:19:07 GMT -5
I just picked up ESPN from Gamestop and I think it is horrible. On top of that, I think the employee working there, who was clearly an ESPN fan, lied to get me to buy ESPN over LIVE. I went thinking I would trade in 6 old games and would then buy 2 new EA Sports games so that I could get the free one from EA. I traded in my 6 games and the first thing the guy said was "$25, thats enough to buy ESPN and have $5 left over". I then explained that I wanted NBA LIVE and Tiger Woods 05 so that I could get March Madness for free. He brought over the games and sandwiched ESPN in the middle of the two. I then told him that I didn't want ESPN. He then told me that in order to do the 2 for 1 deal the free game must be of equal or lesser value than the lowest of the two games bought (Live is only $39.99). I figured he would be telling the truth, and since EA doesnt have a game less than $39.99, I decided I wasn't going to do the 2 for 1 deal. (I rechecked the coupon after I returned home, but there was nothing about equal or lesser value that I saw). Since I no longer needed to buy an EA sports game, I asked which game he thought I should buy. He told me to get ESPN (no surprise), so I went ahead and bought it. Now, do I think the Gamestop employee was actually trying to cheat me out of the game I wanted, No. I think there was a misunderstanding. Maybe I will like ESPN more as I get used to it, but if I don't, I'll be there next weekend returning it and getting LIVE instead.
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Post by detroitbasketball on Oct 3, 2004 15:39:52 GMT -5
That's why I hate Gamestop, they are biased. You have to be assertive: "Excuse me, I don't want ESPN. You should be happy that I'm buying the more expensive game and that you are making more cash."
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nafsder2007
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Post by nafsder2007 on Oct 3, 2004 16:12:51 GMT -5
It was my first bad time at Gamestop. I have an EB Games and a Gamestop like less than a mile from each other. The first day I went to both I took a stack of old games to sell. Gamestop not only bought the games for more, but they sold me my xbox for less than EB Games. I have gone to gamestop since. Maybe I should give EB a try next time.
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Post by detroitbasketball on Oct 3, 2004 16:14:03 GMT -5
That is something I learned: When buying games, it's EB. When trading in games, Gamestop. That is my advice to everybody.
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Post by SlammySammy2121 on Oct 3, 2004 20:16:20 GMT -5
does gamestop do the credits thing too, or money
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nafsder2007
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Post by nafsder2007 on Oct 3, 2004 20:43:24 GMT -5
Gamestop will give store credits or money. As for ESPN basketball, after playing it for a while I realized it isn't all that bad of a game. Actually, I like it. The graphics are amazing. So far all I have played is 24/7, which is a lot of fun, but not very realistic. I figure that the mini games will help me once I start my franchise...err..."association". Anyway, I haven't even played a full game yet, but I did simulate a season of "association". I was the Pacers and for some reason, a week into the seaon, the Hawks offered me Harrington for Stephen Jackson (the exact trade we made in the offseason). Trading is not realistic at all. I was offered above average players in their prime for Reggie Miller. You basically have to decline all trades if you want a realistic dynasty because they tend to be really absurd (teams were making offers for O'Neil and Artest in the middle of the season, like the Pacers would actually trade their two best players in the middle of the season and break up team chemistry.) Trades are also too abundant. Major ones happen at least once a month. During the Free Agent signing, I didn't notice very many big name players. I didn't look very hard though. The draft is much like the draft in ESPN Football. You can check a PDA to see suggested draft picks and you can do mock drafts to determine where players will go. A very cool gimmick in the game is Create-a-Shoe. This may sound stupid, but its actually pretty cool. The shoes are fully customizeable, so you can actually design shoes that look similar to their real life counterparts. I've been on the ESPN Video Game message boards and apparently there is a glitch that prevents the CPU from calling timeouts. I haven't played a full game yet, so I can't confirm this. For just $20 this is a great game. *Thanks biased Gamestop employee for turning me on to a very enjoyable game*
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Post by detroitbasketball on Oct 5, 2004 20:29:04 GMT -5
Yeah, now that I play it more, it's starting to grow on me as well. Gotta appreciate the graphics on this. The timeout glitch is so damn annoying, it's just not realistic. Other than that, I like it.
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nafsder2007
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Post by nafsder2007 on Oct 6, 2004 17:46:23 GMT -5
The only thing I don't like is that 24/7 actually requires you to play daily if you want your player to maintain his attributes. I mean...thats taking the whole realistic business too far. I wish you could like freeze time in it if you know you won't be able to play for a few days.
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Post by Terps2k3 on Oct 6, 2004 21:07:31 GMT -5
The only thing I don't like is that 24/7 actually requires you to play daily if you want your player to maintain his attributes. I mean...thats taking the whole realistic business too far. I wish you could like freeze time in it if you know you won't be able to play for a few days. maybe you mess with your PS2's time and date settings, i dunno? |
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LjSnUo
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Post by LjSnUo on Oct 6, 2004 21:13:14 GMT -5
*cue's justin timberlake background music* cry me a river, cry me a river  |
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nafsder2007
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Post by nafsder2007 on Oct 6, 2004 22:00:51 GMT -5
maybe you mess with your PS2's time and date settings, i dunno? Haha...there's a thought...just set the clock backwards a day before putting the game in. |
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